It was a proud moment for India when the American space research agency NASA launched world’s smallest and the lightest satellite developed by an 18-year-old Tamil Nadu teen Rifath Sharook on Thursday. The tiny satellite called the Kalamsat weighs just 64 grammes and it was launched from NASA’s facility in the Wallops Island at around 3 PM (IST). Incidentally, Kalamsat was the only Indian payload in the mission.

“It’s a 3D printed satellite. It is for the first time that 3D printing technology is being used in space. We have made history. The world’s smallest satellite has been launched in space. It was not possible without my team,” Sharook, said in a statement to ANI.

The project was carried out under the supervision of Space Kids of India founder Dr Srimanthy Kesan who said that the satellite separated from the rocket 125 minutes after the launch. NASA will recover the satellite and send it back to Sharookh and his team for recovering the data collected by the tiny satellite during its mission, she told the Times of India.

Chennai: Students who built the world’s smallest satellite, rejoice after its launch. The satellite weighing 64 grams was launched by NASA. pic.twitter.com/ak7NP9KzUO

As reported earlier, Kalamsat has been designed by Tamil Nadu teen Rifath Sharook and his team, who named their satellite after former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The tiny satellite has been made with reinforced 3D printed carbon fibre polymer and it contains eight indigenously built sensors on board that would collect information regarding the rotation, acceleration and the magnetosphere of the Earth. It also contains a nano Geiger-Muller counter on board that would measure the radiation in space.

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